Telewest Group
Telewest Group plc is a pan-European British media company headquartered in London and owned by AT&T through its AT&T International division, and has operations in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, France Germany, Austria, Italy, and Denmark. Telewest is Europe's third-largest media company and television broadcaster. Initially formed in 1993 as Telewest Broadcasting Co., one of the two companies that succeeded the original Telewest Communications, along with Telewest Broadband (now Virgin Media), Telewest Broadcasting assumed control of the Telewest television network and went on to became the UK's fourth-largest television broadcasting company. In 2013, after completing the acquisitons of France's Amiens Group, Germany's ETG, Italy's Telewest Italia, and Denmark's Bonnier Television DK, The merged company changed its name to Telewest Group. On 19 May 2017, after a government review and subsequent approval, AT&T acquired Telewest in a transaction valued at £850 million. History Foundation and early history (1993-1995) Expansion (1998-2011) European acquisitions (2013) On 22 May 2013, Telewest confirmed that it was, in an attempt to broaden its international operations, in negotiations to accquire a variety of European television companies including France's Amiens Group, Germany's ETG, Italy's Telewest Italia (no relation to the Telewest companies in the UK at the time), and Denmark's Bonnier Television DK. The enlarged company (dubbed "Telewest Global" in the media) will consolidate Telewest's European digital TV assets into one company. The £4.9 billion takeover deal was formally announced on 25 July, where Telewest would acquire Amiens, ETG, Telewest Italia, and Bonnier TV, all at the same time. Telewest also made a required takeover offer to Bonnier Group, resulting in Telewest acquiring Bonnier's share capital in Bonnier TV DK. The acquisitions were completed on 2 November. Telewest Broadcasting Company plc changed its name to Telewest Group plc to reflect the European acquisitions, the United Kingdom operations were renamed Telewest UK Limited, and Telewest Studios (along with all its other production arms), Telewest Pictures, Telewest Consumer Products and any miscellaneous international networks such as Telewest America (which Telewest owns 50% with A&E Networks) were all integrated into a reworked Telewest Worldwide division. Telewest Group plc bought out the remaining minority shareholders in ETG during 2015, using a squeeze-out procedure to obtain the remaining shares on 15 September 2015. Sale to AT&T (2017) In January 2016, it was reported that Telewest Group was being subject to a bidding war for a possible acquisition, with potential buyers including AT&T, BT, CBS Corporation, Comcast, Lionsgate, and a joint bid of ITV and Discovery Communications. On 2 April 2016, AT&T formally announced its intent to acquire Telewest Group for £850 million (US$1.87 billion), in order to expand its operations in Europe. The deal faced regulatory approval by Ofcom and the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport. It was expected to take about eight months to complete. The deal was approved on 19 May 2017, and Telewest Group became a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T. The following month, on 15 June 2017, Telewest unveiled a new logo also adopted by most of its channels and divisions, which includes the AT&T globe. Current operations Broadcasting Production See also *Telewest Communications Category:Telewest Group Category:Companies established in 1993 Category:AT&T Category:Companies based in London Category:British television networks Category:Media companies based in London Category:Media companies of the United Kingdom Category:Corporate spin-offs